10 Best NFL Coaching Records

How does one decide which parameters should be used to determine the 10 best NFL coaching records? Wins are obvious, but for a coach who has been around for a number of years, victories can accumulate along with a lot of losses. A high winning percentage shows that the wins far outnumber the losses, but most important are championships. Taking into consideration all of these metrics, here is a list of the 10 best NFL coaching records of all time.

Vince Lombardi. In just ten seasons as a head football coach, the man for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named won 96 games and had a .738 winning percentage. As impressive as those numbers are, it is five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls ever played, that put Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi atop this list of the best NFL coaching records.

George Halas. The Father of the NFL coached an amazing 40 years for the Chicago Bears, won 318 games, had a .682 winning percentage, and won six NFL championships. Papa Bear’s final crown came in 1963, when at the age 68 he became the oldest NFL coach ever to be a world champion. Halas’ complete body of work earns second place on our list of the 10 best NFL coaching records.

Don Shula. After a 33-year coaching career, Don Shula ranks number one with 328 wins. Following seven years leading the Baltimore Colts and taking them to Super Bowl III, Shula spent the next 26 years in Miami. He won two Super Bowls and coached the only undefeated team in NFL history with the ’72 Dolphins, all adding up to one of the most remarkable NFL coaching records in history.

Chuck Noll. The only coach to win four Super Bowls, his Pittsburgh Steelers teams finished first eleven of the 23 years he was head coach. His 193 wins rank seventh of all time, but throw in the four rings and Chuck Noll is fourth on our list of the 10 best NFL coaching records.

Bill Belichick. After so-so success in Cleveland, he turned the lowly New England Patriots into one of the best teams in the NFL. With 148 wins and a .617 winning percentage through the 2009 season, the only undefeated sixteen and zero regular season and three Super Bowl championships, Bill Belichick owns one of the 10 best NFL coaching records of all time.

Tom Landry. The man with the stoic face and the fedora has one of the most impressive coaching records in NFL history. Tom Landry took the Dallas Cowboys to five Super Bowls, winning two in his 29 years as head coach. His 250 wins rank third of all time and are all the more impressive considering his first Cowboys team didn’t win a single game.

Curly Lambeau. The stadium in Green Bay is named after the man who coached the Packers for 29 years and won six NFL championships. Curly Lambeau’s total of 226 wins in 33 years and .631 winning percentage give him one of the best NFL coaching records of all time.

Paul Brown. He built both of Ohio’s NFL franchises. Prior to owning and coaching the expansion Cincinnati Bengals, Paul Brown had named the Cleveland Browns after himself and won three NFL championships with them in the ‘50s. Add in the Browns’ four All-America Football Conference championships before they moved to the NFL and you have one of the best coaching records in football history.

Bill Walsh. One of the most innovative coaches in NFL history, Bill Walsh turned the San Francisco 49ers into the team of the ‘80s with three Super Bowl wins—including one in his final year as head coach. In only ten seasons, he won 92 games and had six first place finishes, giving him one of the 10 best NFL coaching records of all time.

John Madden. His .763 winning percentage is the highest of anyone who has ever coached more than 100 games in the NFL. In just ten seasons with the Oakland Raiders, John Madden won 103 games and a Super Bowl before gaining even more fame in the broadcast booth.